Young entrepreneurs and peripheral utopias in the south zone of São Paulo

Grounded in an ethnographic study tracing the trajectories of four young people from the southern periphery of the city of São Paulo, this article investigates how entrepreneurship has developed as the other face of peripheral culture. Conceptualized as a utopian cultural form of self-employment, this study argues that entrepreneurship redefines the horizons of expectation that were once central to the lives of residents living on the periphery – namely, the employment and social security record card and political engagement. The article concludes that, feeling increasingly unrepresented in both the labor market and in left-wing organizations, these young people turn to the utopian ideal of entrepreneurship to navigate their personal challenges and, collectively, advance their vision of peripheral autonomy.